1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sample rack transport system in which a plurality of transport apparatuses transporting sample racks are connected to supply sample racks to a plurality of sample processing apparatuses, and a sample rack transport method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H11-304808, there is a description of a sample rack transport system including a transport line which transports racks holding samples and can supply the racks to a plurality of processing units, a central control section which controls the transport line and a display section. The transport line is configured by connecting a plurality of transport line units.
In the above-described system, when a situation (hereinafter, error) to be warned of arises, the central control section displays on the display section a warning display screen including a button for clearing a warning, a start-up button for instructing a start of the system, a stop button for instructing a stop of the system and a display area which shows a unit related to the warning.
In the sample rack transport system described in the above-described Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H11-304808, when an error arises due to a mistake in rack transport in the transport line, a user needs to confirm the transport line unit in which the error arose through the warning display screen displayed on the display section, move up to the transport line unit, remove the rack in which the transport mistake occurred and restart the action of the system by means of the start-up button in the warning display screen.
However, when the above-described configuration is employed in a large-scale sample rack transport system, the distance between the display section for confirming the transport line unit related to the occurrence of the error and the transport line unit in which error arose is large. For this reason, a flow line of the user for confirming the error and restarting the action of the sample rack transport system increases in length.
In order to solve such a problem, providing a button for restarting the action of the system in each transport line unit has been considered.
However, when an error arises due to a rack transport mistake between the adjacent transport line units, the user does not know which transport line unit button should be operated. For this reason, it is necessary to confirm which transport line unit has the error through the warning display screen on the display section. Accordingly, also in the above-described configuration, the flow line of the user for confirming an error and restarting the action of the sample rack transport system increases in length.